Nigerian startup, Rural Farmers Hub, has been selected to join the Katapult Mauritius Accelerator Program at Ferney Agri-hub, TechEconomy.ng can report.
Launched by the impact investment company, Katapult and its partners, the accelerator program is designed to provide the most talented food and agri-tech startups with the investment, skills and network they require to both scale and realize their maximum impact.
The Katapult Mauritius Accelerator Program at Ferney Agri-hub is a ground-breaking program that combines 90 days of intense digital and physical workshops, network & learning sessions with €150,000-300,000 investments in each selected startup.
The goal of the Katapult Mauritius Accelerator Program is simple — to help impact-driven founders scale their companies.
Throughout the program, the startups will be guided not only on how to best take advantage of Katapult’s large community of founders, investors and partners; but to also develop a more disciplined, productive and professional approach to every aspect of their company.
Katapult’s Mauritius Accelerator Program will provide the companies with the tools, network and the financial support for success.
A Nigeria-based startup, Rural Farmers Hub, has been selected from over 1000 international applicants and will join 6 other startups on the island of Mauritius to participate in the 3 month program.
Described as “the most intense and fulfilling MBA you could ever undertake”, during the course of the program, the cohort of companies will engage in rigorous workshops, online meetups, mentor sessions, pitch training and investor presentations, with the aim of making the startups ready for scaling.
“Agricultural is a science for a reason, we need to normalize the science in food production” said Gabriel Eze, the co-founder of Rural Farmers Hub. “Our proprietary algorithms analyses the earth’s data from the abundance of space resources, turning them into actionable todos for any farmer. We are helping farmers optimize farming decisions against risks while maximizing output.”
Founded in 2017 by the serial entrepreneur and tech investor, Tharald Nustad, Katapult has invested in 145 portfolio companies and has run nine accelerator programs to date.
Underpinned by the mission of building a thriving world for all, the success of Katapult’s investment model has been proven by its four unicorn investments.
Rural Farmers Hub:
Through its proprietary app called Capture, Rural Farmers Hub collects and analyses primary and secondary data from the abundance of space, then use that insight in precision farming advisory, e-Extension and consulting services for farmers and corporate; supporting them to make better agribusiness decisions.
It was founded Gabriel Eze and Segun Adegun; both founders come from farming/development backgrounds and were inspired to start the company after witnessing persistently low yields and a lack of agricultural support services in their home villages.
Rural Farmers Hub help farmers increase crop productivity by providing them with real-time crop and soil insights.
Farmers in Africa are half as productive on a per/ha basis than the rest of the world.
This can be attributed to over cultivation of land without rotation or regeneration that may have led to degradation of soil health; however, another common reason is because they lack access to data-driven insights on weather patterns, fertiliser recommendations and many more.
This directly affects their yields, and incomes, which results in poor livelihoods for them and their families.
Its solution, Capture, has allowed over 25,000 farmers to increase their crop yields by up to 35% and productivity rising by up to 10 metric-tonne per hectare, helping to improve their incomes by up to 80%!
The field agent training programs have empowered over 200 youths with digital skills and regular income for basic living.
Rural Farmers Hub is currently operating in 10 Nigeria States, and on track to scale to 1 million out of the 400 million rural farmers in Africa by 2025.
To maximise the impact, the agric-startup is looking for partners to better the lives of millions, and improve global food systems.
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